Putting The Pieces Together
by Earth Star
Summary: "A shack, in the middle of a desert," Lance commented dryly as he climbed off the bike. "Wow, Keith, best secret hideout ever. Tell me, does it come with or without rats?"


Author's Note: So, for awhile my brain had been wondering on what exactly happened in the scenes between when the group rescued Shiro from the Galaxy Garrison to when we see them at Keith's hideout.

Thus, I ended up writing this little bit. Enjoy all.

Putting The Pieces Together

"A shack, in the middle of a desert," Lance commented dryly as he climbed off the bike. "Wow, Keith, best secret hideout ever. Tell me, does it come with or without rats?"

"You're the ones who asked to come with me," Keith said as he removed his helmet. "So, stop whining."

He couldn't understand why Lance was complaining. The cargo pilot, the big guy and the small boy were the ones that had tagged along out of their own freewill. Didn't he ever heard of don't look a gift horse in the mouth?

"I really don't care where we are as long as the army isn't on our tail anymore," the big guy asked as he glanced over his shoulder. "We did lose them, right?"

"Looks like it," the short kid with glasses said as he jumped off. "At least for now, we probably don't want to linger in one spot too long."

"We'll stay here until the morning," Keith said as he folded his arms, "or at least until Shiro wakes up." He shot a sideway glance to Shiro who was still unconscious.

 _Still can't believe it. He's alive._

The big guy sighed as he jumped down and looked ready to drop. "So, what are the chances are no one has realized we left and we can just sneak back into the Garrison without anyone noticing?" For some reason, he waggled his fingers along while making this last comment.

"Not my problem," Keith said as he climbed around the back of the bike and tried to lift Shiro off. "We've got to get him inside." He grunted as he tried to pull. Shiro was nearly twice his size, Keith had forgotten that fact.

"Here, let me give you a hand," the big guy said as he took Shiro's other arm.

Keith blinked slightly, but moved to give the big guy room. "Thanks...um."

"It's Hunk," he replied. "I was actually in the same class as you and Lance - engineer corps." He pointed over to the short boy. "And that's Pidge over there, he's the one that figured out Shiro had crashed in that...alien ship last night."

Pidge adjusted his glasses as he gave a small wave. "Yo," he said dryly.

Keith gave a curt nod as he and Hunk carried Shiro into the house. "Bedroom on the right," he directed with a tilt of the head. "We'll put him there for now."

"Sounds good," Hunk said as they went through the doorway. "Any idea when this guy is going to wake up?"

"Hard to say," Pidge said with a frown as he and Lance followed. "We don't know how strong the drugs the army used to sedate him were." He fidgeted slightly as he drummed his fingers against his elbow. "Could be hours."

"Let's hope not," Lance said as he leaned against the doorway, "because the army is probably searching for us and I doubt they'll be too happy when they find us."

Hunk gave a grunt as he set Shiro on the bed. "Well, that's it, then - I guess we're getting expelled. No more cramped Garrison dorms, no more bland cafeteria meals..."" He glanced to Keith, then stuck out his tongue. "Do you have anything to drink, by the way? My tongue is turning into a desert here."

Keith shrugged. "Bottles of water in the mini fridge in the corner, but that's about it."

"As long as it's cold and liquid, I don't care," Hunk said as he opened the fridge. "Thanks, pal."

Keith sighed as he rubbed his neck. "It's not 'pal', it's 'Keith'...Okay, look, I appreciate you all helping bring Shiro in, but I think it's time you guys wait either in the other room or outside."

"What?!" Lance and Pidge said in unison as Hunk removed the cap of his bottle. "Why would we do that?!"

"Oh, gee, I don't know," Keith said as he stood protectively in front of Shiro. "Let's see, when Shiro was last conscious, he was surrounded by army doctors who drugged him right after he crashed here in an alien ship." He raised an eyebrow. "I'm thinking that whenever Shiro does wake up, it's highly likely he's going to be confused, especially if he sees a bunch of strangers standing over him."

Pidge raised and lowered a finger with a scowl. "That...makes sense actually."

"Yeah, so I'm thinking you three should just stay outside the room for now and I'll keep an eye on him," Keith ordered.

"Now hold on," Lance cried as he jabbed Keith's chest with his finger. "Why do you get to stay inside with him and we all get shoved out?! What qualifies you-"

"Because I've known him for years," he replied as he folded his arms, "and I think he'll be in less in a state of panic if he sees a the face of a friend over strangers."

"He's got a point there," Hunk admitted as he put his hands on Lance's shoulders and sipped his drink. "Let's just go wait outside until Shiro wakes up? Besides, I think my brain needs time to process the fact that we broke into a military site and we may or may not get court-martialed as a result. Can that happen? I'm not sure where cadets fall on the whole military tribunal thing..."

Lance gave an annoyed huff, but then let his shoulders slump. "Alright, but you are NOT taking all the credit for rescuing him. You got that, Keith?! No hogging the glory!"

"Sure, whatever," Keith said with an eyeroll.

Lance kept his snarl as he headed to the door. "Come on, Pidge."

Pidge looked up. "But-" Keith shot the shrimp a glare, which somehow did little more than give him the same snarling expression Lance had. "Fine!"

Keith stared like a hawk as Pidge stood up and poked his chest with a finger. "But you are getting us the second he wakes up, understand? I've got important questions for him."

Keith gave a nod which seemed to satisfy Pidge enough to follow the other two outside. He waited until he was alone before sighing and rubbing his eyes.

"Good grief," he grumbled, but sharply forgot his annoyance as he looked to Shiro. Happy tears built up in his eyes.

Shiro was alive. SHIRO WAS ALIVE. The only person he was close enough to be considered family to him was alive. Keith briskly wiped the tears away with his sleeve as he pulled up a chair to sit next to him.

"I missed you, Bro," he whispered. "I don't know what happened up there, but I'm glad you're back."

Shiro didn't move, and all Keith could do was guard silently as he watched over him.

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Hunk had barely gotten any sleep all night. He, Pidge and Lance had tried to make do with the main room to crash in and a handful of spare blankets for comfort, but his mind wouldn't settle. It kept overflowing with worry.

Would the army find them? Did aliens actually exist? What the hell happened to Shiro's arm? Did half-feral dropout ex-pilots even eat breakfast? It was a mess.

When he saw the sun start to rise through the window, Hunk decided to just give up on sleep and wandered outside for fresh air. It wasn't long before Lance and Pidge had joined him and judging from their faces, they barely slept either. At least, he was certain Pidge didn't. Hunk had heard him typing away at his computer all night.

Lance might have gotten some sleep from the few snores he had heard, but it was a toss-up as to whether he was faking it to reassure the rest of them or if he was actually using his ability to sleep anywhere. The whole thing was just too surreal.

He needed food. Food always cleared his head.

"Hey, does anyone have a candy bar?" Hunk asked. "I am starving."

"How can you think of food?" Pidge said as he typed onto his computer and didn't even bother to glance up.

"Stress makes me burn a lot of calories, okay?" Hunk replied. "And I did miss my nightly midnight snack because of you two." He glanced to his watch. "Actually, add breakfast to the list as well."

Lance grumbled as he leaned back on the porch. "So...does anyone want to discuss the part where we saw an alien ship last night?"

"I'm dying to get to the root of that topic," Pidge said as he rapidly typed on his keyboard, "but there's no point until Shiro wakes up. Anything we come up with would be pure speculation without factual basis."

Lance sat up and he glanced over Pidge's shoulder. "Got to say, I never pegged you to be one of those alien conspiracy theorists."

Pidge paused in his typing and sighed. "One, it's no longer a theory when we've got solid evidence of aliens last night, and second I'm not a conspiracy theorist."

"Oh really?" Lance asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Then what made you try to track alien signals in the first place?"

Pidge sighed as he kept his gaze on his screen. "It's personal, alright? Can you just drop it for now?"

Hunk watched carefully. Lance wasn't always so great at reading signals - the guy's fallback was usually to crack a joke - and Pidge was definitely giving off a 'just let me brew on this alone' vibe. Lance still lingered and just when Hunk thought he would have to distract his friend with something, Lance shrugged and leaned back to shut his eyes.

"Fine, okay, I can take a hint," he mumbled. "Maybe I'll take a nap, I still need to catch up on my beauty sleep thanks to all of this."

 _I'd nap too if I wasn't so hungry,_ Hunk thought as he patted his stomach. Normally, he'd made certain to keep some kind of emergency snack on him, but Lance had dragged him out before he got a chance to do so.

He could go inside and ask Keith, but seeing the guy barely had a kitchen, Hunk figured it wasn't likely he had something beyond water and stale bread. Maybe cans of beans? That was the 'recluse in a shack' food, right?

His eyes then fell upon Pidge's backpack that was sitting near the doorway. Maybe Pidge had something in there? Hunk drummed his fingers. He should ask first, but Pidge was still giving off those prickly 'I want to be alone' signals and probably wouldn't appreciate being bugged for food.

 _I'll just take a fast look,_ Hunk thought as he took the bag. _It's not like I'm searching for dark secrets or something._

The first thing he pulled out was the notebook Pidge had been writing in last night. Curious, he glanced through a few pages. Judging by the amount of details and pages upon pages of drawn charts, Pidge had been tracking the alien signals for months.

The gears in Hunk's brain began to turn. _I wonder...that's a recurrent decay pattern...yeah, if that's what I think it is then we should be able to track the signals._

He stole a sideway glance to Pidge who was still absorbed in his typing.

 _I'll mention my theory to him later,_ Hunk thought as he put the notebook back and reached back inside. _Besides, probably better to bring it up once we hear from Shiro-_

The next thing he pulled out was a photo. At a mere glance, it looked like it was Pidge with his arm around a girl with long hair, but something was off.

Hunk examined it closely as he squinted at it. Then it hit him.

 _Wait, this boy can't be PIdge. The guy is way older and taller. Honestly, the girl in the photo looks more like…_

Hunk froze, his eyes slowly drifting over to Pidge. Several odd patterns of behaviour started to piece together. Pidge had never gone shirtless in front of him or Lance, refused to join them for a swim, and never talked of family or homelife.

 _Longer hair, remove the glasses….Oh God. Pidge is a girl? What?!_

Hunk instantly shoved the photo back in the bag.

 _Breathe Hunk, breathe!_ He told himself. _You got to act calm or Lance will figure something is up._

He took deep breathes as he thought it through. He could care less that Pidge was a girl, that stuff didn't matter to him, the problem was Pidge clearly didn't want anyone else to now this.

 _But why would she keep it secret? Why would she dress up as - or is it he now, or - Nope, forget it Hunk, It's none of your business._

Whatever the reason was, it was clearly a private matter and he was going to respect that by keeping his mouth shut about the whole thing. He frowned as his eyes lingered on the journal.

 _There is interesting stuff there, so how can I mention my theory without Pidge worrying I'm going to blab?_ Then a lightbulb hit him and he snapped his fingers. _I'll pretend I think the girl in the picture is Pidge's girlfriend, that why he...orr she? Whatever, this way Pidge will still assume I don't know anything._

"Yeah, that should do it," he whispered.

"Do what?" Lance asked as he looked over Hunk's shoulder.

Hunk jumped as he shoved the backpack aside. "Oh, um, I found a candybar!" He rubbed his stomach. "Yum, that should do it."

Lance raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Oh yay, good for you," he said dryly.

Hunk sighed in relief. _That was close._

Lance sighed. "Big surprise, a dropout's shack in the middle of nowhere is totally boring. Think that mullethead has any video games or anything?"

"Probably not," Hunk said as he picked up a stick and drew in the sand. "Want to play hangman?"

Lance didn't look enthused, but scooted closer. "Sure, not like I got anything better to do."

Hunk nodded as he stole a glance at Pidge. _Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me. Promise._

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Shiro groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. They felt like they were made of lead.

"Shiro?" a voice called. It was so distant.

His vision was blurry as he opened. Where was he? Prison? Had he been recaptured? Was he on a transport ship? A figure stood over him.

He was on a bed or was it a table? The last time he was on a table was with those..robed figures. It was so hard to remember now.

There had muttering and chanting, and jolt of indescribable pain in his arm. He had screamed nonstop. It was like he had been torn apart like a ragdoll.

"No!" Shiro cried as he tried shove the figure away, but the figure stayed and grabbed his shoulders.

"Shiro!" the voice called again.

Get away! Get away! Escape the pain! Have to get-

The hands shook him rapidly.

"Shiro, it's me, Keith!" the voice shouted now. "Don't you recognize me?!

Shiro froze. That voice...he did know that voice. He squinted as the vision on the figure morphed into a familiar face he thought he'd never see again.

"K-Keith?" Shiro replied slowly as the fog over his mind seemed to loosened.

He gingerly reached out and squeezed Keith's arms. Keith was solid, not a phantom memory. He was real. His foster brother was truly standing in front of him.

"But how did you get here..wait." He briskly looked around and saw they were in a bedroom. "Where exactly am I?"

"My hideout," Keith said slowly as he patted his shoulder. "We got away from the army base-"

"The alien army base?" Shiro asked. This didn't make any sense. Why was Keith in space? Did they capture him too?!

Keith frowned. "No, the Galaxy Garrison."

"I'm back on Earth?" Shiro said in disbelief as he massaged his head. This headache was killing him. Why did it hurt so much just to think?

"Yeah," Keith said with a raised eyebrow. "You crashed in some kind of alien space ship last night." He kneeled night to him. "Don't you remember?"

Shiro opened his mouth, but shut it as fragments of memories flashed through his brain. It was fuzzy and felt like he had blinders on, but it was all familiar. Finding the escape pod, the crash, the Galaxy Garrison finding him and...drugging him? It had all happened.

It wasn't a dream. He was home.

" I did it," he whispered. "I escaped and-" He's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet. "And we've got to move, they'll be following me. They'll-"

"Shiro, calm down," Keith said as he placed his hands on his shoulders. "I don't know what happened to you, but running around in a panic won't help." His eyes narrowed. "Nobody is a mind reader, you've got to tell me what's going on. Isn't that what you always told me?"

Shiro breathed deeply and nodded. "Right...yeah, you're right." He ran a hand through his hair. "Although, frankly, I'm not sure where to start."

Keith turned as he pulled over a trunk and opened the lid. "How about some actual clothes? Do I even want to know how long you've been wearing those?"

"No," Shiro said with a shake of his head as he tugged at the prisoner uniform. "No, you really don't."

He tugged at his shirt. Truth be told, Shiro wasn't sure how long he'd been in them either. He'd been stripped and shoved into them the day he was captured. At this point, they almost felt like a second skin.

Keith reached into the trunk and brought out an armful of clothes. "These aren't top of the line, but I got these spare clothes cheap," he said as he handed them to Shiro. "I was going to see if I could alter them to fit me, but you'll make better use out of them."

Shiro looked over the shirt clothes and gave a small smile. "Thanks...honestly, you can just give me a dishrag and I'd be thrilled with it."

Keith gave a smile in return, but it vanished as his gaze landed upon Shiro's cybernetic arm.

"That arm," Keith asked, sounding uncertain if he should mention it at all. "How did you get that?"

Shiro sighed as he made a fist with it. "That's a long story, Buddy," he said. "A horror story."

Keith narrowed his eyes and gave a silent nod. "I'll just leave you alone for a moment," he said as he left the room and paused. "Also, I should mention...I didn't rescue you alone."

"Oh?" Shiro asked surprised. Keith had always preferred to be a lone wolf. Had he actually made some friends while he was gone?

"Didn't plan on it," Keith continued as he leaned against the door frame, "but these other guys named Lance, Hunk and Pidge came out of nowhere to rescue you too. Ever heard of them?"

Shiro rubbed his neck. "No...at least the names don't sound familiar to me."

"Thought so," Keith said with a shrug. "Although, I apparently Lance and I were in the same class before I dropped out-"

"You dropped out?" Shiro asked in shock. When he had left, Keith had just entered the Garrison to become a pilot. He had been so proud of the kid.

Keith chewed his bottom lip and lowered his gaze to the floor. "When you vanished...well, a lot happened. Didn't seem worth continuing with you gone."

Shiro's face softened and he was about to reach out with his arm, but paused when he realized it was with the cybernetic arm. He coughed and reached out with his other arm and brought Keith in for a hug.

"I'm sorry, it must have been hard," Shiro replied.

Keith scoffed, but kept his face buried in Shiro's shirt like he did when he was thirteen. "It's nothing compared to what you went through," Keith replied, "so I'm not going to complain."

Shiro took a deep breath as he rested his forehead on Keith's head. "I missed you Buddy. You have no idea how happy I am to be home."

Keith said nothing as he pulled himself free and wiped his eyes with his sleeves. "I've got something in my eye, be back in a bit."

Shiro chuckled as he watched Keith leave the room. "Same old, Keith," he chuckled.

He then turned around and found a window. Shiro's gaze hardened as he saw the sky.

The aliens, those conquerors, were coming, They would be coming to Earth, looking for that ultimate weapon. His fists tightened.

If they thought he was going to sit back and let them hurt his planet, then they had another thing coming.

"I'm going to stop you," he whispered to himself as he stripped off his prisoner uniform and dressed himself in his new clothes. "No, matter what it takes, no matter the odds, I will stop you."

Shiro then took a deep breath and left the room. He would go and properly greet all of his rescuers, but right now he needed a moment to clear his head. There was a lot that had to be done and not much time to do it in.


End file.
